Active Labor Market Policy Effects for Women in Europe — A Survey

Abstract

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Getting back into the labor market: the effects of start-up subsidies for unemployed females

“…Although effects are small (in particular in terms of earnings), they are always more favorable for women. In a more recent study on Europe, Bergemann and van den Berg (2008) confirm this finding and show that ALMP is generally associated with positive employment effects for women which are larger than those for men (in particular in regions with low female labor market participation). Regarding this gender gap, Lechner and Wiehler (2011) show that higher employment effects for women in Austria can be explained by higher shares leaving the workforce among female non-participants, which does not apply to male nonparticipants.…”

“…Beside this more general view, Bergemann and van den Berg (2008) focus on women and provide theoretical considerations on how ALMP might increase the employment probability of female participants. First of all, women face on average higher wage elasticities than men.…”

“…The main hurdle for unemployed women in Germany is hence obviously not a lack of human capital. The second aspect identified by Bergemann and van den Berg (2008) that determines the impact of ALMP on employment probabilities of unemployed women is the reduction of labor market distance. Labor market biographies of women are likely to be interrupted by maternity leave, child care or other family related reasons.…”

“…Existing evaluation studies do indeed show that participation in such programs leads to positive, but small, employment effects for women in general. However, the induced higher labor market attachment comes at the price of reduced fertility among female participants (Lechner and Wiehler, 2011;Bergemann and van den Berg, 2008). The OECD highlights the problem of declining fertility rates within OECD countries and its societal consequences, e.g., securing generational replacement and an aging population.…”

Sharing the Fruits of Growth with all Mexicans

“…Evidence suggest that active labour market policies are potentially very important to bring women into employment as the average effects of these programmes are larger for women than for men (Bergemann and Van den Berg, 2008). This is because women's labour supply is more elastic than men's, and therefore participation in a programme that increases labour market opportunities, like a successful skill-enhancing training programme, may subsequently lead to job offers that are acceptable.…”